When I read of the USS The Sullivans alleged to have been targeted by
Yemin terrorists, I remembered the old movie The Fighting Sullivans - 5
brothers in the movie all died when the ship was sunk by the
Japanese.....
The movie did not tell the truth as to how George Sullivan died and this
I found very strange....I remembered the USS Liberty and how it was
bombed and napalmed for 45 minutes by Israelies in International Waters
= 34 dead, 171 wounded and how the truth of the matter was covered up by
LBJ......
The Israelies were to blame the bombing of the USS Cole on the
Egyptians.....as USA moved closer to a friendship with Yemen - now are
ships are in danger......the USS The Sulllivan was an alleged target?
What will the Israelies do next to improve their image ????
Would like to know more about this attempt to sink or bomb USS The
Sullivans.......surely the memory of the 5 brave Sullivan Brothers
deserves a little more attentin than just a one liner in a news item
that few people read or seemed to care about.
So Remember the USS The Sullivans, the USS Liberty, and the USS Cole -
USS Liberty, I guess the feds called "friendly fire" and considered
napalming our sailors on deck an act of mercy?
Saba
The Five Sullivan Brothers
September 6, 1998
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Source: NATIONAL SOCIETY, SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION
TASK FORCE TO PRESERVE U.S. HISTORY
CONTACT: B. RICE ASTON,
Address: 5035 FIELDWOOD, HOUSTON, TX 77056
Phone: 713-850-7186 FAX: 713-621-9312
Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
THE FIVE SULLIVAN BROTHERS
We celebrate Navy Day on October 27. It is
time to remember
the Sullivan family, which lost five sons aboard the light
cruiser Juneau, in the first battle of Guadalcanal,
November 12, 1942. It is a timely story and is basis for the movie
"Saving Private Ryan."
Thomas F. and Aleta Sullivan lived in Waterloo, Iowa, which
in 1942 had a population of less than 50,000.
The Sullivan
family lived at 98 Adams St. Tom Sullivan worked at the
Illinois Central Railroad RR; he was fortunate to have a job
during the Depression. The Sullivan family led lives much like other
middle class families of the 1920s and 1930s. Times were difficult and
not all of his five sons were able to finish high school. Some of them
worked to help pay household expenses. Most of the family found work at
the Rath meat packing plant. The two oldest, George and Frank, served a
hitch in the Navy. The youngest, Albert was the first to get married,
and a son, James Thomas, was born on May 11, 1940.
A family friend Bill Ball, was aboard the Arizona when the
Japanese attacked on December 7, 1941.
When the Sullivan
brothers learned of his death when the enlisted in the Navy;
the five brothers insisted, and the Navy agreed, that they be allowed to
stay together throughout their service. On
January 3, 1942 they were sworn in at Des Moines, and left for Great
Lakes Training Center.
Their names, ranks and birthdates are as follows:
George Thomas Sullivan, Gunners Mate Second Class, Dec 14, 1914 Francis
Henry Sullivan, Coxwain, February 18, 1916
Joseph Eugene Sullivan, Seaman Second Class, Aug 28, 1919
Madison Able Sullivan, Seaman Second Class, Nov 8, 1919
Albert Leo Sullivan, Seaman Second Class, July 8, 1922
In November 1942 the five brothers were stationed aboard
the light Cruiser USS Juneau in waters of Guadalcanal.
Japanese Admiral Yamamoto knew that if Guadalcanal could not
be held, then the end for Japan, though not near, was certain. On the
evening of November 12th air reconnaissance discovered the approach of
large Japanese task force considerably larger than the American force.
The engagement began about 1:45 A.M. There was no moon that night and
there was instant chaos as searchlights suddenly illuminated the two
adversaries at close range to one another.
The Juneau received a torpedo hit on it's port side which left a gaping
hole and an almost severed keel. Dawn on November 13 found Juneau badly
damaged but underway. The surviving American ships huddled together and
headed back to their base. Late that morning, a torpedo fired from a
Japanese submarine, struck the Juneau near the storage area of its
ammunition supply. When the torpedo hit, there was a single explosion
and the air was filled with debris. The whole ship disappeared in less
than a minute in a large cloud of black, yellow black, and brown smoke.
Debris was hurled more than one-half a mile.
A Boeing B-17 swooped down to check on the fuss, and Hoover
sent it a visual signal, "Ship down...send rescue." The B-17
flew off to Henderson Field. The shrunken force headed south
but did not toss rafts or boats over the side.
There seemed no point.
No one believed there were survivors, but they were wrong.
At least 80 survived, including the eldest brother, George
Sullivan. At first, the survivors were not worried,
the American-held island of San Cristobal was visible,
and they were sure that help would soon be on the way
.
No help arrived the next day. Or the day after that.
Or the day after that. The survivors suffered sunburn by day, chill by
night. The sea rubbed salt into wounds and washed away improperly
secured food and water. The food ran out in three days. Men weakened and
died.
Then one night Sullivan, exhausted and delirious, took off his clothes
to take a bath. He jumped away from the raft and was instantly attacked
by a shark.
Seven days after Juneau went down, a U.S. plane spotted some
survivors by chance and hurled rafts into the sea.
Two days
after that ten survivors were pulled out of the water.
Security required that the Navy not reveal the loss of
the Juneau or the other ships so as not to provide information to the
enemy. Letters from their sons stopped arriving at the Sullivan home and
the parents' anguish began as they awaited word.
One of the survivors of the Juneau wrote to Tom and Alleta, but they
still clung to the hope that their sons, or at least one of them,
survived. Finally, it became clear that all their sons had perished. An
outpouring of sympathy ensued.
The "Fighting Sullivan Brothers" were national heroes. President
Franklin Roosevelt sent a letter of condolence to Tom and Alleta. Pope
Pius XII sent a silver religious medal and rosary with his message of
regret. The Iowa Senate and House adopted a formal resolution of tribute
to the Sullivan brothers.
Thomas and Alleta Sullivan, in spite of the intense pain
of losing their five sons all at once, made speaking appearances at war
plants and ship yards in behalf of the war effort. They hoped that they
could help prevent the loss of other American boys. Their daughter,
Genevive, often accompanied them, until she joined the WAVES on June 14,
1943. In April of that year Mrs. Sullivan christened a new destroyer,
U.S.S. The Sullivans, in San Francisco.
At Yokosuka, forty minutes outside of Tokyo, Japan, children
of military personnel and civilian employees, attend
The Sullivans School, named after the five brothers. The school is
staffed by 55 teachers and has a student population of 1,740.
In April 1997 the new guided missile destroyer USS The Sullivans was
commissioned and accepted into the Navy in ceremonies on Stapleton Pier
at Staten Island, N.Y. Like her
great-grandmother, Kelly Sullivan Loughren sponsored the new
USS The Sullivans. She is the granddaughter of Albert Sullivan, the
youngest of the brothers and the only one who married.
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http://www.sar.org/newslett/5SULLIV.TXT
